Life improvements through Headspace

Headspace is a mindfulness app that aims to improve the health of people’s minds by applying meditation to their daily activities. Nowadays, the benefits of meditation as a treatment for pain, depression, anxiety and other mental diseases are becoming more familiar. If practiced on a regular basis, meditating can also help people handle life issues such as:

Stress;

Worry;

Lack of focus;

Relationship problems;

Addictions.

This is where Headspace kicks in with its collections of meditations that suit different moods and lifestyles. Users can choose their session length, replay their favorites and learn how to apply mindfulness to daily activities. They can also map their journeys, track their progresses and get rewards on the way. Headspace users can now basically create ‘’personal gym memberships for their minds’’. The app also sends push notifications, so that they are reminded to be mindful throughout their day.

Headspace was launched in 2010 and has been growing very quick ever since; it is now used by more than three million users over 150 different countries and books are translated into 12 different languages. Headspace differentiates itself from competing applications such as Calm and Buddhify by offering users a Take 10 programme that has ten ten-minute sessions of guided meditation.

Some people question if mindfulness applications can really help people with letting go of distractions, especially since these apps need to be downloaded and used on iOS, Android or the web. Isn’t it somewhat adverse to use an app for mindfulness in a world where mindfulness is counteracted by such digital distraction?

Still, Headspace’s success speaks for itself through its growing popularity. Perhaps the app shows us that the negative sides of digital distraction can be fixed through the same digital distraction devices. Or maybe this depends on the intentions of the app users? What do you think; can the Headspace app really improve lives and make this world a happier place? And will the impact of digital distraction remain?

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One response to “Life improvements through Headspace”

I am really happy that Headspace have been in the news nowadays because of the fundings that they got, and it is great that you wrote about them!
I have been using Headspace for almost a year now (sometimes more regularly, sometimes less) and for the questions you ask at the end of the article: I believe yes it completely depends on the intends of the app user and it can really impact you. With very simple trick you can decrease a lot the impact of digital distraction while meditation for example putting your phone on mute. Andy, the co-founder of Headspace was the one also who “convinced me” not to sleep with my smartphone next to my bed (and use an old-school radio alarm instead for waking up).
Headspace was advised to me by a friend and colleague, who organized to have every day a 10 minute slot in our day when everybody who wanted could voluntarily join the “Mindfulness Club” and with that I learnt how much meditation can help. Even if it is “just” an app, it can really really make you more conscious. And if you want to follow the exercise you won’t get distracted by your phone.
I really recommend Headspace to everyone who wants to start (or continue) meditating 🙂

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